Mrs Freemantle, of Ivybridge, Devon, launched the campaign after her own Zafira caught fire in September.

She managed to escape with three of her children moments before the vehicle burst into flames.

“My fear is somebody leaves their child in the car to go and pay for their petrol and all of a sudden something starts then,” she explained. “There’s no reason why that couldn’t happen.

“My husband quickly ran in the house to get changed and I luckily was in the car and noticed the car was steaming up.

“The children wouldn’t have noticed so God knows what would have happened (if I wasn’t there).

“Our worst fear is that a child dies. It sends shivers down my spine because it’s the one thing I dread to think.”

LFB’s director of operations, Dave Brown, said: “ If you smell smoke or burning coming from your car while you’re driving it, you should pull over as soon as you can in a safe place, get everyone out of the vehicle and always stay a safe distance away.

“Then call the fire brigade and never go back to the vehicle while you’re waiting. If you are concerned that your vehicle is affected by the recall then contact your manufacturer immediately.”

The brigade’s insight and analytics team - which compiled the figures on Zafira call-outs - identify trends in a bid to protect the public by influencing strategy in relation to fires.

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